A Distant Tomorrow (51 page)

“Many find it difficult to believe we are no longer on the borders of Hetar,” Rendor began. “Do they now possess our old lands?”

“Aye, and they are totally confused to have found an empty land, barren of villages or creatures, when they were promised it all including the clan families as a new source of slaves. Gaius Prospero is most distressed that there are no mines to be had in the mountains. He has been forced to seek the wealth he knows is there if he can but find it,” Lara chuckled. “I came for the Gathering, and to speak with all the clan families so I might see for myself that they have all settled in well. I have been with the Shadow Princes.”

“Where is your husband?” Rendor wanted to know.

“Kaliq sent him back to Terah,” Lara said. “He will join us at the Gathering so you may all render him the tribute due him.”

“Why did you not transport to Liam’s hall?” Rendor wanted to know.

“I do you honor as head of the Outlands High Council,” Lara told him. “Liam is only the Lord of the Fiacre. I will see him soon enough. How soon do we leave?”

“Tomorrow,” Rendor said. “You came just in time. It is amazing, Lara. Each clan family sought out the place of the Gathering this summer past, and it was there exactly where it should be. We did not know if it would be.”

“The Princes and I transported everything. And we closed up the mines in the mountains, and put trees and bushes back in their stead,” she told him. “Hetar’s emperor has been very disappointed by what he found.”

“I am sorry that Gaius Prospero did not find a scorched land,” Rendor muttered.

“If he had he would have had a rebellion on his hands, and we cannot tolerate a rebellion in Hetar, old friend,” Lara told him. “They would have been forced to look elsewhere for growing land. As it is they have confiscated all the empty acreage that belonged to the Coastal Kings, and they have forced the secret of Terah from Arcas.”

“Then we are not safe after all,” Rendor said.

“The new Outlands is safe, and so is Terah. The Sea of Obscura can only be found by crossing the desert, and Hetar has decided that the desert is an unfriendly place. They have already left the small bit they attempted to settle last year. And the Emerald Mountains separate the new Outlands from Terah proper, and another sea separates it from Hetar,” Lara explained. “The clan families are safe, Rendor.”

“This sea you call Obscura is not like Sagitta,” he told her. “We have seen sea monsters with beautiful jewel-colored scales and great tails swimming off the shore of it. They do not come near, and they seem peaceable, but I know they have seen us as well. We are not of a mind to take a dory out onto the water. But when we cast out our nets from the beach they are immediately so full of fish we can hardly pull them to shore. We will not starve. We have only done that twice since we have been here, for we would not waste the bounty of this land. We smoked what we could not eat, and shall take some of it to the Gathering for barter or trade.”

“This is a good place, then?” she asked.

“Our flocks behave as if nothing has changed,” he told her.

“I will be interested to hear what the other clan families have to say about this new place you have been brought to, Rendor. Let us hope they are as content.”

“It will not matter if they are not, for we cannot go back, can we?” he asked.

Lara shook her head. “Nay, you cannot,” she agreed.

The next day the Felan and Lara departed for the yearly Gathering. They traveled the same time and distance as always, which was a comfort to them. And when they reached the place of the Gathering Lara was relieved to see the great stone monoliths standing at the place of the assemblage as if they had been in that particular spot for centuries, which of course they had been in the old Outlands. Before the Felan could settle themselves Lara went to join her Fiacre clan family. She was warmly welcomed by Liam.

“Where have you come from?” he wanted to know.

“I traveled with Rendor and the Felan, but I was with the Shadow Princes prior to that. May I stay with you? You know I count myself among the Fiacre.”

“Of course!” he said enthusiastically. “Noss! Noss!” Liam called to his wife. “We have a most welcome guest who has come to the Gathering.”

Noss’s head popped from the lord’s tent. Seeing Lara she let out a little squeal of delight and ran forth to embrace her. “Oh, I am so glad you are here! I have another son, Val,” she exclaimed. “Have you seen Dillon yet? Dillon, your mother is here!” she called out to Lara’s young son. The boy came running from the tent.

“Mother!” He flung his arms about her.

Lara hugged her child, noting that the older he grew the more he looked like his father with his wonderful blue eyes and dark locks. “You simply must stop this growing business,” she told him, ruffling his hair.

He grinned up at her with Vartan’s smile, and her heart contracted. Once it had been so simple, she thought, and briefly was overcome with sadness.

“I can’t help it,” he said. “I can ride Dasras now,” he told her.

“But you cannot have him,” she responded. “I sent him to you for the summer because I knew I would not be able to ride him.”

“Where were you?” he asked directly.

“In Hetar, and in the realm of the Shadow Princes. I saw your grandmother, and my younger brother Cirilo who is only a year older than you are,” she told him. “I hope one day that you will meet your uncle. It cannot hurt to have friends in the land of the faerie,” Lara said seriously.

“My father’s mother says faeries bring bad fortune,” Dillon replied.

“Bera is not well in her head, and has not been since her younger son murdered your father, her older son,” Lara explained.

“She says you slew Adon and Elin, orphaning my cousin Cam,” Dillon responded. “Did you kill them, Mother?”

“Aye, and I would have slain Cam, too, but that I was prevented from doing so. The false blood of his parents runs in him, Dillon. Never trust him,” Lara warned.

“My father’s mother says we should be friends, for our fathers were not just brothers, but friends also,” Dillon told her.

“Vartan and Adon were never friends,” Lara said angrily. “The younger spent his life jealous of the elder and everything your father earned. Obviously her grief has skewed Bera’s memories. Cam is young, but he will understand the story of his father’s demise one day. And mark my words, Dillon, he will seek to avenge his parents. Do not trust him ever,” she repeated. “There will be times when you want to trust him, but do not! And do not trust Bera either. I know she is your father’s mother, but she will hate you for my blood, which also runs through your heart. One day that hatred will overcome her, Dillon, and she will strike out at you. She cannot face the terrible truth that one son slew the other. While I had nothing to do with it, she has come to blame me if she tells you that the faerie world is evil and not to be countenanced. Treat her with respect, my son, but put no faith in her words.”

Noss had been listening. She could not help but overhear Lara’s words. “Your mother is right,” she told Dillon. “And she is very wise. Heed her.”

“Where is Anoush?” Lara asked her old friend.

“With Tearlach and Alroy,” Noss replied. “She follows them about. She stands between my older sons in age. Dillon has little time for her, being older. You will see her at the evening meal, Lara.” Noss’s voice had a slight edge to it, and her eyes were suddenly distressed. “Do you plan to take your children back with you when you return to the Dominus?” she wondered nervously.

“I have told you before, Noss, that Vartan’s son and daughter are Fiacre, and will remain with their clan family. Do you not think I am aware that after all these months my daughter will not remember me? That she thinks of you as her mother? I understand that. For now we will not confuse her for she is very little, and would not comprehend. Let this not come between us, Noss. I value your friendship and your kindness to my children. They are safer with you than they would be with me.”

Noss’s eyes filled with tears. “Lara, forgive me! I adore Anoush, and dread ever losing her. Liam cannot, it seems, get a lass on me. I have three sons now,” she said with a weak smile. “Anoush is the only daughter I will ever have. I just know it.”

“I know that,” Lara reassured her friend. “And how fortunate Anoush is to have a faerie woman birth her, and a mortal raise her.”

“She shows no signs of magic,” Noss said, “but Dillon does. For all he resembles his father he is first your son. In the old place creatures came to him easily, and so they do here. He and Dasras have become good friends. He will miss him when you return to Terah and your husband.”

“Have you settled in here?” Lara asked Noss.

“Oh yes,” Noss answered. “The land is much greener here, and the cattle have fattened well on it this summer. The landscape is a little different, but it is pleasant. The spring was long, the summer, too. The autumn has come quickly. I wonder about the winters here. Will they be hard?” She shrugged. “We will endure whatever comes, for we are Fiacre. Our way of life continues as it ever did.”

“You are a woman who gossips at the well, and listens, too,” Lara said. “Have you heard any discord among the others in Camdene?”

“Nay. The only small problem is Bera. I think the death of her sons unhinged her. She avoids us all and keeps Cam close. I want to feel sorry for her, for she was very good to me when we first came to the old Outlands.” Noss shook her head. “But it is as if some inner voice were warning me away. Liam does his familial duty toward her, but even my mother-in-law, Asta, Bera’s own sister, no longer speaks with her except when she must. Bera is well housed, clothed and fed. She is respected when she passes by, but no more than that.”

“If something warns you from her, heed it,” Lara said. “Tell me about Cam.”

“Secretive,” Noss said. “And not very talkative.”

“Does he sport with the other children?” Lara asked.

“Sometimes, but not often. Bera hardly allows him from her sight,” Noss responded. “She attempts to make Dillon play with him, but Dillon says Cam is dark, and refuses to go, more times than not. Bera has accused me of keeping the cousins apart.”

“Heed your own instincts and my son’s where Cam is concerned,” Lara said.

“I will,” Noss promised.

The word had quickly spread that Lara was among the clan families again, and the clan lords all came to pay her their respects. They each wanted her to know that this new land into which they had been settled suited them well. Floren of the Blathma and Torin of the Gitta were ecstatic in their praise of their new home’s fertility.

“The grain!” both exclaimed with one voice.

“And I have never had flowers like those I grew this year,” Floren declared. “I brought many seedlings with me, and lost not a one! Thank you, Lara!”

Roan of the Aghy spoke up. “My horses are healthier than they have ever been,” he told her. “And thanks to your Dasras I will have at least a dozen fine new foals next spring. I hope you do not mind that he came visiting my mares,” Roan chuckled.

Lara laughed. “I have yet to see Dasras, but nay, I do not mind,” she said. “I am pleased that this new Outlands suits you all. Rendor’s flocks have the best wool they have grown in years. I need only hear from the Piaras and the Tormod now. Have you been able to make arrangements with the Mountain gnomes to open mines of your own?” she asked, turning to the two clan lords involved.

“The Tormod have,” Imre said coming forward. “And I have brought two of the Mountain gnomes with us as guests. Fulcrum is the chieftain of the Jewel Mountain gnomes. They have the magic to open a hillside without doing any damage to the landscape. They have exposed the entrances to three mines for us, and we have spent these past months digging out some of the finest gemstones we have ever seen. We will, with the gnomes’ aid, sell our gems to the Terahns.”

“Will you not be taking their livelihood from them if you do?” Lara asked.

“Nay. It is the gnomes who will deal with the Terahns as they always have, and they will keep a percentage of our profit for doing so,” Imre explained.

“But will you not drive down the price of the gems if you flood the market with what you have mined, and what they have mined?” she inquired.

Imre chuckled. “There speaks the Hetarian in you, Lara. Fulcrum and his gnomes are old. There are fewer of them now than there have ever been, and none has been born in several hundred years. Many are not so eager to work now. But we are, and so they sell to the Terahns, and we share the profits. You will speak with Fulcrum yourself and see. It is a fine partnership.”

Lara nodded, and turned to Vanko of the Piaras. “And how have your people fared?” she asked him.

“We have made an agreement with the Ore gnomes that has us mining gold in their new mines, for the old ones were worn out, while they mine the silver and copper. They continue to sell the product of our combined labors, and take a percentage of the profits for their trouble. They, too, are few in number now, and mining gold is difficult work. We are all comfortable with this arrangement.”

“I am pleased to hear it, Vanko. How is your father?” Lara asked.

“Eager to see you,” Vanko said with a smile. “You will come and take a cup of frine with us later, I hope.”

“I will,” she said, returning his smile.